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Laos
Index
This edition of Laos: A Country Study replaces
the
previous edition, published in 1971, prior to the
establishment of
the Lao People's Democratic Republic, which came into
being in
December 1975. Like its predecessor, this study attempts
to review
the history and treat in a concise manner the dominant
social,
political, economic, and military aspects of contemporary
Laos.
Sources of information included books, scholarly
journals,
foreign and domestic newspapers, official reports of
governments
and international organizations, and numerous periodicals
on Asian
affairs. A word of caution is necessary, however. The
government of
a closed communist society such as Laos controls
information for
internal and external consumption, limiting both the scope
of
coverage and its dissemination. And data from and on Laos
are, on
the whole, limited, and often contradictory.
Chapter bibliographies appear at the end of the book,
and brief
comments on some of the more valuable sources recommended
for
further reading appear at the end of each chapter. A
glossary and
chronology
(see Table A
) also are included.
A word must also be offered on the use of the terms
Lao
and Laotian. The term Lao refers to people
who are
ethnic Lao; it is not used to refer to those living in
Laos who are
members of other ethnic groups, for example, Vietnamese,
Chinese,
or Hmong. The term Laotian is used to refer to all
the
people living in Laos, regardless of ethnic identity.
Spellings of place-names used in the book are in most
cases
those approved by the United States Board of Geographic
Names.
However, as internal divisions have been drawn and
redrawn, place-names within Laos have also changed. Insofar as possible,
the
present volume reflects these changes.
Measurements are given in the metric system. A
conversion table
is provided to assist readers unfamiliar with metric
measurements
(see
table 1, Appendix).
The body of the text reflects information available as
of July
1, 1994. Certain other portions of the text, however, have
been
updated. The Introduction discusses significant events
that have
occurred since the completion of research, the Country
Profile
includes updated information as available, and the
Bibliography
lists recently published sources thought to be
particularly helpful
to the reader.
Data as of July 1994
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